Grayson Allen impresses in Utah Jazz pre-draft workout

Duke product Grayson Allen reportedly had a solid pre-draft workout with the Utah Jazz and is certainly one of their potential first-round targets.

As my J-Notes colleague Ryan Aston recently pointed out, the Utah Jazz held a particularly important pre-draft workout on Monday as they brought in a number of intriguing prospects. Of the six guys they brought in, four figure to be legitimate targets for them with the No. 21 overall pick in the upcoming 2018 NBA Draft.

Those four players included UCLA’s Aaron Holiday, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, Creighton’s Khyri Thomas and Duke’s Grayson Allen. Of the bunch, Thomas is the one I like the best as a prospect for the Jazz. He was phenomenal in his final year at Creighton and figures to be an NBA-ready defender right off the bat. He’s also an exceptional three-point shooter as he connected on over 41 percent of his threes in two of his three seasons at Creighton.

He’s a 3-and-D player in the making that could very well be a prominent target for the Jazz on draft day. However, according to several reports, he isn’t the one who stole the show in Utah’s latest round of workouts. Instead that recognition belongs to Duke standout Grayson Allen.

Allen had already begun to increase his stock considerably with an awesome showing at the NBA Draft Combine. He was exceptional in terms of both performance and measurables, proving himself as one of the most elite athletes in the draft. He also interviewed extremely well, which was vital given the questionable reputation that precedes him.

While at Duke, Allen became more well-known nationwide for his questionable dirty plays than for his basketball abilities. He was particularly known for tripping opposing players, but had some other unflattering run-ins with opponents as well and was also credited with having a hard time keeping himself composed when situations didn’t go his way. Those questions about maturity have made Allen somewhat of a risky pick for teams and have certainly made a number of fans quite uneasy.

However, after apparently backing up his solid combine with an incredible workout in Salt Lake City, the Utah Jazz may truly consider selecting him 21st overall. The Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones reported as much as well as stating that Jazz officials are high on his athleticism and quoting Jazz VP of Player Personnel Walt Perrin as saying, “Grayson is definitely an NBA athlete.”

He further reported that the Jazz described stretches of Grayson’s play during the workout as “dominant.” Considering he was competing against the likes of Thomas, Brunson and Holiday, that’s a remarkable observation, to be sure.

KSL’s Andy Larsen confirmed these sentiments by stating that Allen impressed the staff that viewed his workout and adding that the general consensus was that the Duke product was the best athlete in the workout.

In other words, the Jazz appear encouraged with Grayson Allen, and while some fans may be uneasy about his somewhat checkered past, the reality is that Utah may very well opt to use their 21st pick on him based on what they’ve seen at both the combine and this recent draft workout.

My two cents – I’ve never been big on Allen because of his attitude incidents while at Duke. That said, he was certainly much more toned down this season than the one before. Not only that, but if the Jazz see enough things that they like, I trust their judgement on him far more than my own. If they see fit to draft him, I’ll support the decision and simply be excited to see what they’re able to make of him.

I’m also a big believer in second chances. Just because Allen did some questionable things while in college doesn’t mean that he can’t change his ways to become a likable and successful NBA player. Although there’s no disputing that at times he has expressed himself in distasteful ways, his passion and determination to win are reassuring traits to behold.

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Allen is far from my favorite Jazz prospect, and I truly think there will be more appealing options available when Utah selects at No. 21. However, if he performed as well in his workout as it seems, perhaps the Jazz will indeed pursue him.

As an irritant with significant defensive potential, he could very well fit in with the likes of Jae Crowder and Joe Ingles, but ensuring that his attitude and style didn’t cross the line from irritating to dirty would be important to monitor. Whether he goes to the Jazz or not, Allen figures to be a likely first-round selection and it’s going to be absolutely fascinating to see where he ends up.